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Do you know “Tanabata”?

七夕って、ご存知？

You may see this kind of colorful sight when you visit Japan in early July. 7月初旬に日本を訪れると、このようなカラフルな光景を見かけると思います。

Taken by ymtnprn

What are these ornaments? These are for Tanabata, the Star Festival! Japanese people celebrate Tanabata (七夕) on July 7th. This festival is originated from the Chinese legend of two stars, Orihime (織姫, Vega) and Hikoboshi (彦星, Altair). According to the legend, Orihime, a weaving girl, and Hikoboshi, a cowherd boy, loved each other so much that they stopped working hard. The Emperor became mad at them and separated them by the Milky Way, but allowed them to meet once a year on the night of July 7th.

For Tanabata, Japanese people decorate bamboo branches with strips of colorful papers and ornaments to celebrate the reunion of the two stars. As you can see in the picture above, wishes and hopes are written on the strips (Sorry, those are written in Japanese!). It is said that these wishes and hopes come true. They are full of variety, from personal wishes like “I wish to be happy and rich” to comparatively bigger hopes like “Peace for all over the world!”